The Seaweed is Always Greener
by vivaciouslady
Summary: It’s basically a switch—Ariel is the human, Eric is the merman. Some things had to be changed, like Eric having merbrothers instead of Ariel have six human sisters, etc., to make sense. Can Eric deal with the challenges Ariel had to face?


I'm sorry if you guys were expecting something for "Between the Ocean and the Sky"! I'll get to the next chapter, I promise XD3 I've just had this sitting around for a while, so I really wanted to upload it. =D Hope you like!

It's basically a switch—Ariel is the human, Eric is the merman. Some things had to be changed, like Eric having merbrothers instead of Ariel have six human sisters, etc., to make sense [it's not like Eric could leave Atlantica if he was the only sovereign! =O]. I named it "The Seaweed is Always Greener" because of the Under the Sea lyrics and since…well, hey, it's a lot easier to be Eric than Ariel in the original movie I THINK! XD you can talk and you're not watching the person you love talk about someone he's in love with who's essentially you except you can't tell him because YEAH YOU CAN'T TALK X_X LOL. Eric should get the challenge ;D I just hope he can handle it.

Enjoy! XD

Chapter 1: Fathoms Below

It was a beautiful day to be out at sea! Princess Ariel of Italy leaned against the banister, watching the waves lick the side of the ship, seemingly playful. She giggled and waved at the porpoises as they swam by the ship. The sailors were singing and joyful…it seemed as if nothing would bring the princess down.

"I'll tell you a tale of the bottomless blue….and it's hey to the starboard, heave ho! Look out, lass, a merman be waitin' for you," one of the sailors grinned and tweaked the little princess' nose.

"In mysterious fathoms below," Ariel finished, knowing the song well. She hiked up the skirts of her pale green dress with purple embroidery and spun around. After a good laugh, Ariel went over to her friend, the distinguished court composer Horatio Thelonious Ignatius Sebastian. He was always easy to spot on the ship as every day he stood, decked out from head to toe in shades of red.

"Isn't this FANTASTIC, Sebastian?! The salty sea air, the wind blowing in your face…a wonderful day to be out at sea!" Ariel exclaimed enthusiastically. Sebastian opened his mouth to say that he believed that they should go back to the castle (he never liked being off land for long…after all, it was where their rightful place was), when a sailor interrupted him.

"A fine strong wind and a following sea. Queen Trita must be in a friendly-type mood!"

"Queen Trita?"

"Why, ruler of the merpeople, lass! Thought every good sailor-ess worth her salt knew about her," he winked at Ariel, knowing that the princess enjoyed being referred to as a sailor rather than a princess. Sebastian, however, shook his head hard.

"Merpeople! Ariel, pay no attention to dat nautical nonsense," Sebastian remarked. Sometimes he thought someone had to nail that girl's shoes to the floor or she'd be hopping and dancing and swimming around like there was no tomorrow.

"But it ain't nonsense! It's the truth! I'm tellin' you, down in the depths o' the ocean they live!" he waved an enormous fish in his hand that he had caught earlier, but the creature managed to slip away and flopped onto the banister, and back into the ocean. Ariel ran over to the side and watched it swim away.

"Heave, ho, heave ho, in mysterious fathoms below."

Deep below, far past Ariel's gaze, the concert hall in the underwater palace was filled! The seahorse herald entered the balcony. "Ahem . . . Her Royal Highness, Queen Trita!" Queen Trita swam onto the balcony of the hall, gracefully moving through the water. Her long white hair trailed behind her, gold crown immaculately straight on her head. The merpeople erupted with cheers. The seahorse waited patiently for the cries to quiet down before continuing on.

"And presenting her manservant, Brachyura Ocypodidae Crustaceous Grimsby!"

The applause decreased into silence as the white crab in a small purple cravat scuttled out, moving over near the seated sea queen. Queen Trita smiled at him.

"I've really been looking forward to this performance, Grimsby," she said, her gentle yet strong voice showing traces of excitement beneath her age.

"Oh, Your Highness, this shall be the finest concert I ever oversaw. Your sons will perform spectacularly!" Grimsby replied. He kept watch over all of the queen's sons and their activity…especially music wise, for although Grimsby did not participate, music was very special to Queen Trita and he took a great deal of care in making sure everything went swimmingly.

"Yes, and especially my little Eric."

"Yes, yes, he plays the flute so well," Grimsby said, smiling back at the queen. Once her gaze fell across the crowd, Grimsby sighed quickly to himself, dabbing his forehead with the cravat. "Now, if only he'd attend the rehearsals once in a while." Eric was always off thinking about things, even…wandering up to the world above! The conductor tapped a thin spiraled shell and raised his arm, and the orchestra began to play. Edward, Edmund, Edwin, Everett, Ethan and Eadric began playing the harp, bass, brass, tub, strings--guitar and piano. Grimsby watched as Queen Trita's face lit up, crossing his claws as they continued on. This was Eric's musical debut, after all. The segment where Eric would immerge from the shell and start his flute solo, and then his merbrothers would join in was coming very soon.

Eadric's piano jazzed up quickly, and the rest of the mermen moved to the side so the shell was in plain sight. It opened up, and…it was completely empty. Grimsby let out a groan and nearly fainted dead on the spot, the poor old crab. Queen Trita's face fell, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh, Eric."

Off in the distance, Eric was swimming as fast as he could with his friend, the silent white and grey dogfish, Max. "C'mon, Max!" Eric laughed as they raced. The merman ducked behind the rock…but Max sniffed him out, quickly swimming into and tackling his friend. Eric let out another laugh, rubbing the top of Max's scaly head. As he turned to look forward though, his mouth dropped open. A sunken shipwreck lay ahead.

Max swam ahead a little, and Eric decided that it wouldn't be too bad to explore. He might be able to find something…new. Something that would at least take his mind off of the strange feeling the merprince had been sensing for a few days. "What do you say, Max? Should we check it out?" Eric asked, and Max responded with a friendly lick that didn't feel so wet in the surrounding of seawater. Eric grinned and the dogfish sped forward, vanishing into the ships porthole. Or at least, Max tried, and got a little bit stuck. He wasn't the smallest dogfish after all, but after Eric did a bit of pushing, the two of them made it inside.

It was like nothing Eric had ever seen before.

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End file.
